man.

LECTURE VIII.

ECCLESIASTES XII. 13. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter; Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole [duty] of man.*

LECT. VIII. "THE whole of man :" instruction for his Religion the duty, direction in his difficulties, consolation in perfection of his sorrows, triumph in death, and the boundless bliss of knowledge and holiness to eternity. But the fear of God and the observance of his commandments are no servile and narrow habits of mind. The Scriptures abundantly shew that they comprehend, or by just deduction lead to, all that is true in knowledge and noble in feeling. "The High and Lofty One, who inhabiteth eternity," builds also his temple in "the contrite heart." He has made it our duty, and a part of the filial "fear" which we owe to him, that we should acquire all that we can of sound information concerning his perfections and his works. "He giveth to a man that is good in his sight,

* It will not be unwelcome to the serious reader to have this passage laid before him in a close translation. "The finishing lesson, the total, let us hear; Revere God, and keep his commandments: for this [concerns] every one of mankind.”

EXCELLENCE OF RELIGION.

323

wisdom and knowledge and joy;" and it is laid LECT. VIII. down as one of the characters of the impious, that "they regard not the works of the Lord, nor the operation of his hands."*

When the Committee of the Congregational Lecture did me the honour of the invitation to deliver the course of this year, I could not but feel grateful for the opportunity thus afforded, of making an attempt to rescue from misapprehension a branch of research into the works of God, which at the present time attracts the attention of men, beyond all former example; and of offering an humble contribution for advancing the influence of religion, as the rightful associate of all other knowledge.

sibility of the

these lec

It is incumbent on me to state that, beyond a Sole respongeneral approbation of the subject, the Com- writer of mittee is not answerable for any thing that has tures. been advanced. The sentiments and arguments which have been submitted to you, rest upon the responsibility of the lecturer alone.

There are some remaining subjects respecting which I am desirous of obtaining the approbation of my indulgent auditors; especially of the young persons, who are the delight of our families and the hope of our churches;-" for ye are our glory and joy."

I. I congratulate you upon the increasing Duty of sciATTENTION which is evidently paid to the objects suits.

entific pur

Eccl. ii. 26. Psa. xxviii. 5.

LECT. VIII. of sensible SCIENCE.

By the studies of Natural History, my young friends, you become acquainted with "the wondrous works of HIM that is excellent in knowledge ;" and, by those of Natural Philosophy, you investigate the causes and results of the changes which you or others have observed in the objects noticed by your senses. This is a part, at least, of what the wise man describes as "applying the heart to know, and to search, and to seek out wisdom and the reason of things."* It is a subject for much thankfulness to the Author of all good, that so many of you have been furnished, by the affectionate liberality of your parents, with the means of laying a foundation for these acquisitions, and of commencing to build worthily upon that foundation. Yet those who have been thus favoured in a less degree ought, by no means, to be discouraged. It is an humiliating fact, that the class of persons which has enjoyed such opportunities in their most perfect form, is not universally found to make a correspondent improvement of them. On the other hand, the honours of science have been sustained, and its bounds enlarged, in the greater number of directions, and, in superior degrees, by those who, nearly or altogether unaided, have risen to eminence by their own diligence and perseverance in the cultivation of talent.

* Eccl. vii. 25.

IMPERFECTION.

325

ation.

The advice has been often and very properly LECT. VIII. given, that you should beware of satisfying Folyof affectyourselves with superficial acquirements. But this recommendation needs to be better understood than it sometimes is. A vicious superficialism is when self-fondness persuades a man, and urges him to endeavour to persuade others, that his knowledge is something great; that he has studied to an extent which he has not done, and has made attainments which he has not made. Such affectation involves the guilt of falsehood; and it is sure to defeat its own end, and bring its merited punishment.

But there is a sense in which it must be said Imperfection. that most, even of cultivated minds, possess but superficial knowledge. It is one of our blessings, by God's kind providence, to live in a time when literature, science, and the arts are cultivated so assiduously; and their results are proclaimed so widely; that the necessity of acquiring general knowledge is strongly impressed, and the means of the acquisition are afforded with unexampled facility. To many, however, the measure of such acquisition must be imperfect. The indispensable cares and labours of our earthly condition present insurmountable obstacles: and there are duties of personal religion and of social life which possess an infinitely higher obligation, and the neglect of which would bring guilt upon our own consciences, and injury upon our dearest connexions. Far from happy would be the

LECT. VIII. possession of even great attainments, purchased at such a cost.

Humility is wisdom.

Self-improvement.

Course of

study recommended;

remove.

Let us then never be reluctant to acknowledge the ignorance, which we have not been able to Let us not put on the flimsy shew of a knowledge, which we do not possess. Let us be ever open to the confession, that such or such a subject is one with which we have not been favoured to obtain an accurate acquaintance. The ingenuous state of mind which thus expresses itself, will bring no shame; and it will very often be the means of opening a valuable door of information and improvement; partly by its exciting influence on ourselves, and partly by its conciliating the attention of our more accomplished friends.

These considerations not only impress upon us some admonitions, but they justify the exhortations which I am presuming to give, that (in subordination to the richest jewel and sweetest charm of life, the RELIGION OF CHRIST, and in a well regulated connexion with all domestic and social obligations,) my young friends would invigorate their minds by literary, mathematical, and scientific pursuits. This must, generally and chiefly, be accomplished by what Milton so strenuously eulogizes, as the education which a man gives himself.

Let us suppose that a foundation has been laid in a good general education, in which the rudiments of the Mathematics have been solidly